This photo, provided by the Daejeon Fire Service, shows firefighters checking an unidentified international parcel sent from Taiwan to a home in Daejeon, 164 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 21, 2023.
SEOUL, July 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Police have concluded that no hazardous substances were found in thousands of suspicious international parcels that had sparked fears of terrorism, officials said Friday.
Police had been looking into whether terrorism was involved after thousands of international parcels received nationwide were reported to authorities for suspicions of containing suspicious substances.
The incident first came to light when three people working at a welfare center for the disabled in the southeastern city of Ulsan were rushed to the hospital for breathing difficulties and dizziness after opening a random parcel from Taiwan.
They were all discharged without significant symptoms.
According to the National Police Agency on Friday, the parcels were concluded to contain no dangerous substances the previous day via unknown sample tests conducted by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.
As the test result came back negative, police have also decided to close their investigation into potential terrorism involving the mail.
Police have concluded that the parcels were sent as part of “brushing scams” from China via Taiwan and are looking into whether they can bring charges of illegal personal information collection against the senders.
In brushing scams, online retailers mail unordered items to random people to manipulate product reviews and boost their online presence.
Police have also requested cooperation from the Chinese police for investigation.
As of early Thursday, a total of 3,604 suspicious international parcels had been reported to the police from across the nation.
(Yonhap)
